Bobbin hanger



May 19, 1970 sHlNzo KHwAMLJRx BOBB IN HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet l` Filed Oct. 23, 1967 /f/gpz P/g3 n wtiwsmnl.

United States Patent 3,512,731 BOBBIN HANGER Shinzo Kitamura, 941 Ikaga, Hirakata-shi, Osaka, Japan Filed Oct. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 677,411 Claims priority, application Japan, June 12, 1967, 42/ 37,122 Int. Cl. B64c 1/38 U.S. Cl. 242-1302 10 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A bobbin hanger for suspending a supply bobbin has two pawls pivoted on the lower end portion of a stem xed at its upper end to a supporting member which is rotatably supported by a screw, a cylindrical guide member slidable on the stem has slots for the pawls and a transverse pin which engages lower cam surfaces of the pawls to swing the pawls outwardly to engage a shoulder in the bore of a bobbin when the guide member is slid upwardly on the stem, a compression spring acts between the supporting member and the guide member to urge the guide member downwardly.

The present invention relates to an improved bobbin hanger for supporting a supply bobbin of a spinning machine, and particularly relates to a rotatable bobbin hanger for rotatably suspending a supply bobbin of a spinning machine.

The bobbin hanger of the present invention is generally used for suspending a so-called roving bobbin which is provided with a central hollow axis having a stepped portion to be engaged with a portion of the bobbin hanger.

In recent years, some types of bobbin hangers have been invented for the same purpose as the present invention. The conventional bobbin hangers are provided with a mechanism comprising operable pawl members which can be engaged with a stepped portion disposed in the central axial hollow of a supply bobbin after insertion of the pawl members into the central axial hollow.

The bobbin hanger of the present invention belongs to the above mentioned type. However, the operation characteristic of the bobbin hanger is so improved that the suspension of the supply bobbin by the bobbin hanger of the present invention can be operated much more easily and more stably than with the conventional type of bobbin hangers.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved bobbin hanger having easily operable mechanism which can be applied to a conventional spinning machine.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the ensuing description with reference to the accompanying drawings to which, however, the scope of the invention is in no way limited.

FIG. 1 is an elevation of an embodiment of a bobbin hanger of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the bobbin hanger shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III- III in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the bobbin hanger taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1,

FIGS. 5A and 5B are plan and perspective views respectively of another embodiment of the screw used in the bobbin hanger of the present invention,

FIGS. 6A to 6D are explanatory drawings of a cam mechanism of the bobbin hanger of the invention showing a developed view of the cam groove.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory drawing for showing how to use the bobbin hanger of the invention,

FIGS. 8 and 9 are partial side views of other embodiments of the bobbin hanger of the present invention,

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of a brake wire disposed on the cap of the bobbin hanger of the present invention.

The bobbin hanger of the present invention comprises, mainly, an engaging member to be inserted into the axial hollow part of a supply bobbin and a supporting member which slidably supports the engaging member.

The engaging member of the bobbin hanger of the invention comprises an outer cylinder and an inner stem which is slidably disposed within the outer cylinder. The inner stem is provided with a hook means which can be engaged with a shoulder of the axial hollow part of a supply bobbin in accordance with the relative displacement of the inner stem and the outer cylinder of the bobbin hanger of the invention, when the engaging member of the bobbin hanger is inserted into the axial hollow part of the supply bobbin and which can easily release the supply bobbin from the bobbin hanger by further pushing the supported bobbin toward the bobbin hanger. Therefore, the operation of supporting a new supply bobbin can be carried out easily.

An embodiment of the bobbin hanger of the present invention is shown in FIGS. l and 2. The bobbin hanger comprises an engaging member 1 and a supporting member 2 for supporting the engaging member 1. The supporting member 2 comprises a cap 3 which always slidably supports the top end portion 4' of a cylindrical guide member 4 of the engaging member 1 by its botto-m cylindrical portion 3. An aperture for inserting a pin 35 is provided in the cap 3. A screw 5 is secured to the cap 3 through a ball bearing 6 in such a way that the screw 5 passes through an aperture 7 provided in the top end portion of the cap 3. The cylindrical guide member 4 is provided with the top portion 4 having a double cylindrical wall provided with an inside cylindrical space S and a lower cylindrical portion 9 provided with a pair of slots 10 extending vertically towards its bottom end portion y11.

The cylindrical guide member 4 is provided with a pair of vertical grooves 12 disposed symmetrically in the outer surface of the cylindrical guide member 4 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The vertical grooves 12 act as a guide grooves for a collar 13 which slidably engages with the cylindrical guide member 4 and has a pair of cutout po-rtions 14 receiving keys 15 which slidably engage with the respective vertical grooves 12.

At the bottom portion of the cylindrical guide member 4, a horizontal pin 16 is secured in such, a way that both ends of the pin 16 project outwardly a little beyond the inside wall of the collar 13 so as to prevent the collar 13 from being released from the bottom end 11 of the cylindrical guide member 4.

Consequently, the collar 13 can be shifted along the cylindrical guide member 4 freely without rotation around the cylindrical guide member 4, and the collar 13 is kept at its lowest position defined by the pin 16 by gravity.

As shown in FIG. 3, the screw 5 is provided with a head 17 at its bottom end so as to receive the ball bearing 6 through a ball receiver 18 in order that the cap 3 of the bobbin holder can be supported rotatably around the screw 5. The balls of the ball bearing 6 are disposed between the ball receiver 18 and the top end portion of the cap 3. Other types of ball bearing can `be used for the bobbin holder in place of the ball bearing 6.

The engaging member 1 is also provided with a vertical stern 20 slidably engaged in the cylindrical hollow part of the cylindrical guide member 4. The stem 20 is provided with a laterally expanded head 21 which is inserted into the cap 3 and secured to the cap 3 by a pin 35. At the bottom portion of the stern 20, a cut-out portion 22 is a provided as shown 1n FIG. 3 in order to support a pair of pawls 23 and 24. The pawls 23 and 24 are pivoted at their top end portions to the stem 20 by a pin 26 in such a way that pawls 23 and 24 maintain their position inside of the cylindrical guide member 4 and the 4bottom end portions of both of the pawls 23 and 24 ride on the horizontal pin 16 secured to the cylindrical guide member 4 as shown in FIG. 3, while the collar 13 is kept at its lowest position delined by the pin 16, and the pawls 23 and 24 are turned outwards around the pin 26 by the upward movement of the pin 16 caused by the relative sliding motion of the cylindrical guide member 4 to the stern 20 as shown in FIG. 7.

A helical compression spring 27 is disposed inside of the cap 3 in such a way that the top end of the spring 27 always contacts with the lower end of the head 21 of the stem 20 and the lower portion of the spring is positioned in the cylindrical space 8 of the cylindrical guide member 4, consequently, the cylindrical guide member 4 is always pressed downwardly by the expansion force of the spring 27.

A cam groove 28 having a heart shape is formed on the circumferential surface of the stem 20, and a semi-circu lar horizontal groove 29 is formed on the inside Wall of the top portion 4 of the cylindrical guide member 4 with an aperture 25 provided in the portion 4 for inserting a ball 30 into the horizontal `groove 29. The cylindrical guide member 4 is always engaged with the stem 20 by the ball 30 which engages in coincident portions of the cam groove 28 of the stem 20 and the horizontal groove 29 of the cylindrical guide member 4. A half heartshaped cam portion 31 of the grooved cam 28 occupies at the most a half portion of the circumference of the groove 28 while the remaining portion 32 of the grooved cam 28 forms a portion of a groove for assembling the stem 20 with the cylindrical guide member 4, as shown in FIG. 6A.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the stem 20` is pulled out downwards from the cylindrical guide member 4, rst the stern 20 is turned up to 180 in order to make the position of the ball 30 coincide with the aperture 25. then the ball 30 is taken out from the laperture 25, the cylindrical guide member 4 can then be easily pulled out from the stem 20 and then the collar 13 can be also removed from the cylindrical guide member 4, after taking out the pin 16.

When assembling the elements of the bobbin holder of this embodiment of the invention, first, the spring 27 is attached to the stern 20 and then the head 27 of the stem 20 is inserted into the cap 3 and fixed to the cap 3 by the pin 35, next the cylindrical guide member 4 is attached to the stem 20 in such a way that the lower portion of the spring 27 goes into the cylindrical space 8 of the top portion 4' of the member 4 and the stern 20 is inserted in the cylindrical hollow of the member 4. Next, the cylindrical guide member 4 is turned in order to align the aperture 2S with the portion 32 of the grooved cam 28 and the ball 30 is inserted into the space between the horizontal groove 29 of the member 4 and the portion 32 of the grooved cam 28. And then the cylindrical guide member 4 is turned 180 so that the ball 30 is stably disposed between the horizontal grove 29 and the grooved cam 28. Next, after insertion of the bottom portion 11 of the cylindrical guide member 4 into the collar 13, the pin 16 is inserted in such a way that the bottom cam portions of both pawls 23 and 24 ride on the pin 16.

Another embodiment of the screw is shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, wherein the arcuate surface of the screw thread 5 consists of a pair of circular portions S and a pair of flattened portions 5". Accordingly, the 4aperture 7 formed in the top end portion of the cap 3 consists of a pair of straight portions and a pair of arcuate portions so as to fit the screw 5 passing therethrough. It is apparent that this type of screw can be produced in simpler way than conventional, while it presents the same steady engagement bet-Ween the screw and the cap as ones of the conventional type.

The bobbin hanger described above is used for supporting a supply bobbin in the following manner. Referring to FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D and 7, when the bottom portion of the bobbin hanger is inserted into the top portion of the cylindrical hollow part of a supply bobbin 36 by manual operation, the top portion of the supply bobbin 36 pushes the collar 13 upwards, the collar 13 contacts with the bottom portion of the top portion 4 of the cylindrical guide member 4, and pushes the cylindrical guide member 4 upwards against the force of the spring 27. Consequently, the ball 30 in the grooved cam 28 is shifted in the direction designated by arrow A in FIG. 6A, by the upward movement of the groove 29 of the member 4, and is stopped at the upper end portion 31a whereupon upward sliding motion of the cylindrical guide member 4 is completed. By the above-mentioned operation, the insertion of the bobbin hanger of the invention into the supply bobbin is completed. After the bobbin is released, the ball 30 is shifted downwards as designated by arrow B and is stopped at the position 3112 of the grooved cam 28 as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C. Consequently, the relative position of the stem 20 and the cylindrical guide member 4 is changed as shown by comparison of FIGS. 3 and 7. By this relative displacement, the collar 13 pushes the cylindrical guide member 4 upwards, while the stem 20 is kept at its stationary position, consequently, the pawls 23 and 24 are turned in an outward direction by the pushing motion of the pin 16 of the cylindrical guide member 4 and the bottom end portions of the pawls 23 and 24 are projected beyond the vertical slots 10 respectively, so that the bottom end portions of the pawls 23 and 24 engage with the stepped portion 37 of the hollow of the supply bobbin 36. While supporting the supply bobbin 36 by the bobbin hanger of the invention, the bobbin hanger can be rotated freely by tthe ball bearing 6, by which the feeding of roving from the supply bobbin can be operated smoothly.

When it becomes necessary to release the supply bobbin 36 from the bobbin hanger of the invention, the supply bobbin 36 is pushed upwards again by hand, then the ball 30 is shifted towards the direction designated by arrow C up to the position 31C as shown in FIG. 6C, then the bobbin 36 is pulled downwards, and the ball 30 is shifted towards the direction designated by arrow D and stops at the position 31d as shown in FIG. 6D. The position 31d is the same as the original condition shown in FIG. 6A, the bottom end of the pawls 23 and 24 are displaced in the cylindrical guide member 4, therefore, the supply bobbin 36 can be easily taken off from the bobbin hanger.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the helical spring 27 is provided for obtaining stable engagement of the pawls 23 and 24. with the supply bobbin 36, however, if the weight of the cylindrical guide member 4 and collar 13 are suiciently large to maintain the engagement of the pawls with the supply bobbin, the spring 27 can be omitted.

The bobbin hanger shown in FIG. 8 is another embodiment of the invention in which the collar is omitted, but which is provided with a cylindrical guide member 38 on which a laterally expanded portion 39 corresponding to the collar 13 of the rst embodiment is fixed. The action of the laterally expanded portion 39 is almost the same as the collar 13 .of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1. However, if the pawls 23 and 24 are always energized by a energizing means such as spring, the collar 13 or the laterally expanded portion 39 can be omitted.

The bobbin hanger shown in FIG. 9 is another embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 9, a cylindrical guide member 41 is iixed to the cap 3, a stern 40` is slidably supported by the cylindrical guide member 41 having a pair of vertical cut grooves 43, and a collar 42 is secured to the stem 40 by a pin which engages with the vertical grooves 43. In this case, the principal mechanisms of the supporting pawls 23, 24 and means for turning the pawls 23 are almost the same as the first embodiment shown in FIG. l, however, the shape of the grooved cam 28 of the rst embodiment is reversed.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 10, wherein the bobbin is provided with a brake wire 46 pivotally mounted on a supporting plate 45 secured tothe top end portion of the cap 44. The lower end of the brake wire 46 is pressed lightly against the surface of the cylindrical member 47 Iby its own weight so as to prevent the supply bobbin supported by the hanger from overrunning. In case of the conventional type of bobbin hanger, a brake wire is also used but in such a manner that the lower end of the brake wire is pressed against the yarn layer on the bobbin, and this resulted in damage of the yarn layer or troubles in the supply bobbin replenishing operation. In the case of the present invention, braking action is applied indirectly to the supply bobbin through the bobbin hanger, thereby eliminating the drawbacks in the conventional art.

As mentioned above, and as shown in FIGS. 1 to 10, the bobbin hanger of the present invention has many unique features including simple construction, easy handling quality and stable supporting function which bestow distinctive improvements to bobbin handling in a spinning operation.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with certain embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A bobbin hanger for suspending a suplply bobbin having an axial bore with a shoulder, said hanger comprising a supporting member, a stem secured at its upper end to said supporting member, a pair of pawls pivotally mounted on a lower end portion of said stem and having lower cam surfaces, a cylindrical guide member slidable on said stem and having slots to accommodate said pawls, a transverse pin in a lower end portion of said guide member in position to engage said cam surfaces of said (pawls to swing said pawls outwardly in opposite directions to engage said shoulder when said stem is inserted in said axial bore of a supply bobbin and said guide member is moved upwardly relative to said stem and means for temporarily iixing said guide member relative to said stem in a first position in which said pawls are swung outwardly `and a second position in which said pawls are retracted, a compression spring disposed between said supporting member and said guide member to bias said guide member in a direction away from said supporting member.

2. A bobbin hanger according to claim 1, in which said supporting member has a skirt portion in which said guide member is slidable and in which said spring is disposed.

3. A bobbin hanger according to claim 1, wherein said supporting member comprises a cap having a head portion and a cylindrical skirt portion with an aperture disposed centrally of said head portion, and a screw passing upwardly through said aperture and having a head in said cap to support said cap.

4. A bobbin hanger according to claim 3, in which a ball bearing is disposed between the head of said screw and the head portion of said cap to support said cap rotatably on said screw.

5. A bobbin hanger according to claim 3, wherein said screw has opposite at portions and intervening arcuate threaded portions.

6. A bobbin hanger according to claim 3, further comprising a brake wire pivotally supported by said supporting member and having a lower end portion engageable with said cylindrical member.

7. A bobbin hanger according to claim 1, wherein said means for temporarily iixing said guide member relative to said stem comprises a horizontal groove in the inner surface of said guide member, a cooperating cam groove in said stem and a ball disposed in a space dened by coincident portions of said cam groove and said horizontal groove.

8. A bobbin hanger according to claim 7, wherein said cam groove is at least in part heart shaped.

9. A bobbin hanger according to clainr 1, wherein said cylindrical guide member has a laterally expanded portion engageable by the topend of a supply bobbin to move said guide member from said second to said first position when said stem is inserted into said axial bore of a supply bobbin.

10. A bobbin hanger for suspending a supply bobbin having an axial bore with a shoulder, said hanger comprising a supporting member, a stem secured at its upper end to said supporting member, a pair of pawls pivotally mounted on a lower end portion of said stem and having lower cam surfaces, a cylindrical guide member slidable on said stem and having slots to accommodate said pawls, a transverse pin in a lower end portion of said guide member in position to engage said cam surfaces of said pawls to swing said pawls outwardly in opposite directions to engage said shoulder when said stem is inserted in said axial bore of a supply bobbin and said guide member is moved upwardly relative to said stem, means for temporarily fixing said guide member relative to said stem in a first position in which said pawls are swung outwardly and a second position in which said pawls are retracted, and resilient means continuously biasing said cylindrical member against said supporting member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,556,684 6/1951 De Santis 242-l30.2 2,928,625 3/1960 Fusaroli 242-1302 3,065,926 1l/l962 Whitehead et al. 242-129.7 3,170,654 2/1965 Winslow 242-1302 X 3,286,949 11/1966 Whitehead et al. 242-1302 LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. XR. 242-1297 

